Do we have any enemies?

Throughout history there has been the archenemy. The person or group who is responsible for all “evil” in the world. Leaders have sold the idea that once this enemy is destroyed all will be well in order to unite people and to hide their own misdeeds. However, as soon as we kill or subdue one enemy, our leaders are pointing out another cause of all evil, and the idealogical struggle between good and evil continues endlessly.

A paradoxical twist is introduced when two competing groups each declare the other the source of all evil. Each, of course, identifies themselves as being good and the other as being evil. This is the conflict being sold to the American people today. It seems silly to think that each is evil and good depending on what side of some arbitrary line they are on.

If evil and good are so easily interchangeable, is there an evil thing, let alone evil people?

Since we seem to assign evil to others that are not like us, can they not also assign evil to us since we are not like them?

It complicates the matter even further when the motives of the people assigning who is evil are taken into account. Could it be that the evil-doers are assigned the label simply because it is convenient to some end?

Most of the major religions train our minds to easily grasp or even need an axis of evil. In Christian folklore, for example, there is one that is responsible for all evil. and everything was good until he came along. Certain leaders seize the opportunity to exploit this training for their own ends.

Now, think about our concepts of people. When we meet someone new, how much do we really know about them? Most of us form immediate opinions of who a person is when we first see them. However, if we spend enough time with the other person, our assumptions are normally proven to be incorrect.

So, now we are being told that X (substitute: Terrorists, Muslims, Gays, Feminists, Liberals….) are the cause of all of our problems. And, that simply getting rid of them will solve everything. But how much do we really know about them?

Yet, we think and act on information that is given to us by leaders with an agenda not in our best interest, and we create new enemies with our actions. Maybe we don’t have any enemies at all.